Mutual apologies
by YoungTakinom
Summary: Bob went to Lost Angles to learn more about Hexadecimal, but it looks like he might go home with more questions.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Reboot

Hexadecimal's Lair was dark now that she was gone. Bob had investigated her former home a few times since her sacrifice, but he couldn't figure out where the lights used to come from.

"Just another Hexa-mystery." Bob reminded himself. He and Scuzzy were in Hexadecimal's bedroom. The guardian couldn't make Scuzzy stay away from there, and that gave him a good enough excuse to get away from everything else for a while. "I've already given up on the lights for a while. I'm here to learn about Hex, right Scuzzy?"

Scuzzy happily rolled around on the floor. His purring was the only sound until Bob opened a drawer. That was when the cat flipped out. He screamed happily and ran around the room, jumping randomly and quite literally bouncing off the walls. When he was suddenly finished, the young cat made its way to Bob and sat down next to the guardian's feet.

"What was that about?"

Scuzzy looked up at Bob and meowed casually.

Bob decided to not question it just then and turned his attention back to the drawer he was going through.

"Just another Hexa- wait a nano." Bob reached into the drawer and pulled out a large key. "Is this what the random party of one was about?"

Scuzzy had another happy moment before rushing out the door. Bob rushed out after after him.

"Scuzzy, wait! You don't have the key!"


	2. Chapter 2

His mission in Mainframe was to study the viruses. Bob knew he had failed, and he blamed himself for what happened to Hexadecimal. In truth, Bob used to be terrified of her. He was very aware of her powers and thought Megabyte's social skills made him a better candidate for reprogramming.

Now he wondered how he was going to get Megabyte under control. Maybe wherever Scuzzy was taking him to would have something to help? A weapon to weaken him without hurting him? Would Hex have something like that? Possibly. Something to hurt him without deleting him? After everything he had done to her, that was a definite possibility. No, Hex was too powerful to need a weapon for that. Then again, the Medusa Bug wasn't really necessary either. A list of her brother's weaknesses? She probably had one of those around here somewhere. Still, as far as Bob knew, Scuzzy could just be taking to some secret room with more art supplies and cat food.

At this point, anything would be better than some secret shrine to him.

"Scuzzy where are you taking me?"

The cat purred, but without a video to go along with it, that wasn't much of an answer. The cat lead him to a small door and pushed it open. Bob sighed and got down on his hands and knees to squeeze himself through. There was a small tunnel with a dim light at the end of it, but the guardian had a feeling whatever was on the other side would not be there later.

"This had better be worth it." Bob wasn't happy when the tight tunnel lead to a small balcony. "That's it?"

Scuzzy glared at the guardian and looked at a small group of handles in the floor. Bob got closer to investigate and rolled his eyes when he found found multiple handles on the one small door.

"A door on the floor? Leave it to Hex..." Bob smiled at her creativity and tried to open the door, only to find that it wouldn't open. His first thought was that is was locked, but there wasn't keyhole. He decided he was using the wrong handle. "Of course." Eventually he found out the one in the middle would open the door. "What ever makes sence in Lost Angles?"

The door opened to what appeared to be a deep hole. "Glitch, flashlight." Even with the light clearly shining in the hole, all Bob could see was black. "Weird."

Bob looked at Scuzzy. He almost asked if he was sure this was a good idea before deciding to trust Hecidecimal's cat and just jump down. The fall didn't take near as long as he expected, and the guardian was not prepared for the landing. As soon as his feet hit the cold floor, the gaurdian faceplanted. That was when he figured that the walls and floor were probably painted black. He was trying to grt up when Scuzzy landed on top of him, pushing him back down to the cold, hard floor. The cat looked at him compassionately.

"I'm alright." Bob found out otherwise as he tried to get up. "Ow!" Scuzzy seemed concerned. "Its just a twisted ankle." Bob lied. "Where to now? Go slowly."

Scuzzy didn't believe Bob, but there was nothing he could do. So he slowly lead the guardian down a few halls, looking back every few steps to make sure Bob was still alright. They finally made their way to a set of very large doors.

"That's what this key is for." Bob looked down at the key. Even when he broke his ankle, Bob still clung to that key. "Hexadecimal made this door hard to find, and locking it would only be over-deletion. She tried to keep whatever is in there a secret from everyone. Are you sure I should go in?"

Scuzzy purred.


	3. Chapter 3

The key disappeared as soon as Bob unlocked the doors. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had wanted to keep that key, but maybe something behind the door would be even better. He opened them quickly, wanting to find something that was special to Hexadecimal to take home with him and keep forever. He knew a lot of his sudden clinginess was just him wanting to distract himself from Dot, but the more thought about the Queen of Chaos, the more he wished he had handled things differently.

The first thing he saw was a large bed with purple sheets. Bob looked around slowly. There was a large window on the other side of the bed stretching to the other side of the room. The room was bare other than a large, plush rocking chair facing away from the door and towards a swing on the other side. There was a familiar virus in a blue nightgown happily swinging, facing the door, bed, and rocking chair.

"Daemon!" Bob found his hands forming fists as he slowly walked towards her. He felt as though time was somehow slowing down. He blamed her for almost ending the Net, but more than anything, he blamed her for Hexadecimal's sacrifice. "How dare you!? This is Hexadecimal's Lair! She died trying to defeat you!" Bob started crying. "I saw you blow up! She found a way to save yu too, didn't she?" Bob thought he would still have to strength to punch her when he finally got to where she was swinging, but instead he dropped to his knees. "She found a way to pull your code back together, and you hid here! You have nowhere else to go, and I don't even know if Hex would want you here!"

"I have asked her." Daemon said as she stared at the rocking chair. She sounded so casual. "She wants me to stay with her. Please help my friend."

Bob hesitated to look at the rocker instead of the virus. He knew Daemon was more than capable of deleting him.

He regetted waiting a couple nanos when he saw Hexadecimal sitting in the rocking chair in a long, strapless black dress. Her mask in worse condition than he had ever imagined it being in. "Hex..." Bob said weakly.

He turned his attention to Daemon. "I need a private moment with her."

The cron virus got off her swing, but she wasn't going to leave without reassurance. "You can help her?"

Bob nodded. "I can, but it will hurt. She's going to scream, but I promise, everything I do will be for her own good."

"And when you are done, it will not hurt her anymore?"

"It shouldn't."

Bob looked at Scuzzy and nudged his head towards Daemon. The cat followed her out.

"I'm here, Hex." Bob kissed her cheek before aiming his keytool at her face. "Glitch..." The keytool twirled and beeped; he knew what to do. "Thanks, Glitch."

Daemon turned back when she heard Hex's screaming. Scuzzy meowed loud enough to get her attention, but she looked back into the room to make sure her friend was alright. She never thought there would come a second when she would struggle to retain her self-control. She wanted so badly to rush to Hex's side and push the guardian away from her fellow virus, but if Hex trusted Bob, then Daemon would try to.

Hex's breathing was heavy when it was finally over. Her glow in her eyes was weak, but her smile said everything Bob wanted to hear.

She would be fine.

They both felt trapped in a fairytale as the guardian lifted her out of the chair and carried her bridal style away from the windows and out of the room, forgetting all about how their love was forbidden and all the fights they'd ever had. All that mattered was how they felt right then and nothing could ruin that feeling.

"Does this mean you don't love Dot?" Bob had even forgotten about Daemon being there. "She loves you very much."

Hex looked heartbroken when he put her down, but when Bob wrapped his arms around waist, she knew her worries were in the past. Her smile helped him smile before looking Daemon. "Dot is in the past. And so are you."

"Bob!" Hex was shocked that Bob would say such a thing.

"No one can know either of you are still processing." Bob explained "If anyone found you were alive, the entire Net would go into a panic. And Hex, if anyone found out you were still alive, someone would question if Daemon was out there somewhere. I can't risk losing you again." He smiled at her. "We have so much catching up to do."

"I'm so sorry for all the trouble I've caused."

"I'm sorry I never realized how much you needed me."

"And I am sorry for almost deleting everyone." Daemon ruined the moment "What are you sorry for, Scuzzy?"


End file.
